Spanic Boys “Spanic Boys” 1988. Permanent Records. Today’s pull in remembrance of Tom Spanic, who passed away last week at the age of 69. His son, Ian Spanic, lives in our neighborhood and is the executive director of my son’s school. Ian is a great guy and although I never met Tom, I’m guessing he was just as sweet and kind, and both are extremely talented musicians. You can read Tom Spanic’s obituary here.

Spanic Boys, their debut album, is roots guitar rock, bluesy and rockabilly, Fender-bending notes and harmonies (“Tell Me” is a great example). After this small local label release, Spanic Boys released three albums on Rounder Records and three others on other labels. They performed at SxSW in ‘89 and then on Saturday Night Live in 1990 as a last-minute replacement for Sinead O’Connor who boycotted the episode in protest of host Andrew Dice Clay’s jokes about women. They also played on David Lettermen in ‘91 and the Conan O’Brien Show in ‘94.